What a whirlwind of an episode! With so many shocking developments and so very much intrigue to discuss, I must delve into the review with no further ado.
Three years from now: These flash-forwards keep outdoing each other with few exceptions. The wow factor on this one was immense. I loved the crazy transition from Bonnie's melancholy state to her apparent joy at being reunited with Enzo. Why is she being treated at that facility, and what terrible thing did she do that resulted in the loss of a loved one - and who was lost? And of course, seeing Bonnie run into Enzo's arms for a steamy kiss was a fabulous "OMG moment." The flash-forwards have me longing for answers at the same time that I can't get enough of the mysterious and surprising tidbits we are seeing so far. Keep it coming, writers!
Lily was pretty despicable in this episode. She's so egomaniacally fixated on her own happiness that she doesn't care who gets hurt in the process. Frankly, she's an awful mother, just as fickle in her affections and prioritizing of her surrogate children as she is with Stefan and Damon. From dismissing Valerie's ordeal as a series of lies, to breaking Enzo's heart (though I'm happy that relationship is likely not moving forward romantically) and unleashing a dangerous and brutal killer on the world just because she wants to have Julian back, Lily was selfish and short-sighted beyond belief. Julian is definitely a threatening and scary villain, so it will be very interesting to see what happens now that he is on the loose.
Revelations about the Phoenix stone: Poor Alaric! He finally thought he had Jo back, but it turned out that the stone doesn't just resurrect any dead person it touches. Instead, the stone contains a lot of vampire souls, one of which it randomly selects to place into the body of the person it touches. Unless you have the spell that Lily and her cohorts used with their Heretic mojo, you can't reunite the body with the matching soul - plus, Julian was a vampire and Jo was human, so her soul would never be in the stone anyway. This is saddening. I'm not sure it's such a great idea for Ric to take the soul locked in Jo's body under his wing, as he obviously might just want to pretend it's Jo to some extent. He's gone through so much trauma that I hope this storyline doesn't get any more depressing and that Ric can find some hope and be able to move on with his life.
One last question: what other souls are in the Phoenix stone? Anyone else we know? Ponderous.
What did you think of this episode? Share your thoughts in the comments, and be sure to catch an all-new The Vampire Diaries, next Thursday at 8/7c on the CW.
